Staff Report –

WASHINGTON, D.C. — FBI Director Chris Wray began the new year with a public appearance to assure the American public and the academic community that, in spite of a growing number of foreign actors and nation-states seeking to disrupt the democratic process in the U.S., the Bureau is well-positioned to defend against foreign interference as the country begins the foreboding 2024 election cycle.

“Americans can and should have confidence in our election system,” Wray said during a fireside chat with U.S. Army Gen. Paul M. Nakasone, the director of the National Security Agency and commander of U.S. Cyber Command, moderated by National Public Radio’s Mary Louise Kelly.

The FBI hasn’t witnessed any foreign interference effort that has jeopardized “the integrity of the vote count itself in any material way,” he said, in spite of claims to the contrary by the Republican front runner.

Protecting Elections

Information warfare and election interference aren’t new, Wray told the audience of public and private sector cyber experts, international partners, academics and students.

But he said there has been a definite uptick in the number of nation-states and overseas players who want to interfere with U.S. elections or otherwise exert foreign influence on American affairs, along with a growing array of tools they can use to meddle in our democratic process.

“”The threats are more challenging, but the defense is better,” Wray said, confidently. “Everybody’s raising their game.”

He called Russia “a regular player in this space” and said that the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine hasn’t deterred it from trying to tamper with American politics. On the contrary, Wray noted, one could argue that American policy on Ukraine hits so deep a nerve that the Russian government is trying to simultaneously advance its agenda there, and brainstorm ways to influence or interfere with business in the U.S.

“If anything, for them, the stars align in terms of those two efforts,” he said. “And so we have to be even more effective in countering it.”

Russia isn’t the only nation-state seeking to sway or disrupt American politics, Wray said, noting that other countries, including Iran and China, are also active in this arena.

“They’re all pursuing slightly different agendas and using slightly different techniques, but we’re watching all of it,” he said.

Wray indicated partnerships are allowing the Bureau and the government to rise to the challenge more widely in protecting U.S. elections from foreign interference. He said collaboration between the Bureau and its fellow U.S. government agencies, the federal government’s relationship with state election officials, and public-private partnerships, have all become “exponentially more sophisticated and effective” with each new election cycle.

Partnerships also help the American populace become more resistant to foreign adversary efforts to use chaos as a tool for disruption. Wray also noted that it’s imperative that Americans be “eagle-eyed” amid misinformation efforts by foreign governments and the rise of emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence.

“I think that’s a responsibility that every American has as an informed citizen and, ultimately voter,” he said.

‘A Qualitative Advantage’

During the fireside chat, Wray also reiterated the intensity of the cyber risks posed by China.

Wray said the authenticity of the bonds that exist between U.S. government agencies like the FBI and the NSA, across sectors, and with foreign partners give our nation a competitive advantage over China despite the scale, severity, and persistence of the cyber threat it poses.

“We have partners across all those vectors who work together because of shared values and a common goal because they want to — not because they have to,” he said. “And that is a kind of teamwork and partnership that the Chinese government can’t hope to achieve.”

China might have an outsized hacking program, he said, but the U.S. government collaboration has a force-multiplying effect that nevertheless grants the U.S. a qualitative advantage.

The FBI is “determined not to let” China outpace the United States in the field of AI, Wray said.

The conversation was part of the 2024 Fordham International Conference on Cybersecurity, co-hosted by the FBI and Fordham University at the school’s Lincoln Center campus in New York City, according to a press release.

Domestic violence from local confederates, white nationalists and Trump supporters was not part of the conversation the Bureau decided to highlight publicly, at least. That is also a problem of great concern at the Bureau.

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Christopher Asher Wray (born December 17, 1966) is an American attorney who is the current director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. President Donald Trump nominated Wray on June 7, 2017, to replace James Comey. He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 30, and took office on August 2. Wray is a registered Republican, according to his Wikipedia page.

Born in New York City, Wray graduated from Yale University in 1989, then attended Yale Law School. He joined government in 1997 as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. From 2003 to 2005, Wray served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division in George W. Bush’s administration.

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